Students are campaigning for the Scripps College administration to provide and fund broader access to free menstrual products in bathrooms across campus. Student organizations such as Scripps Advocates have been primarily responsible for providing and distributing free menstrual products to the community for several years.
Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College and Pomona College provide menstrual products for their students, while Claremont McKenna College contributes to student organizations who stock the products. Beyond Scripps’ central health service hubs, student groups with limited funding are filling in the gaps.
An anonymous survey was sent to Scripps students on Monday, Nov. 10, via the Scripps Associated Students newsletter, aiming to collect student feedback on the need for free menstrual products on campus.
The survey said that the Scripps administration has declined multiple requests to take over supplying these products.
Co-head of Scripps Advocates Tess Frazer SC ’26 said that the student group provides menstrual products for the dorm bathrooms, but providing products across the campus is beyond their scope and financial capacity. As such, she believes the school should provide these products.
“I really think it’s embarrassing that a historically women’s college that claims to advocate for their students and provide all these resources does not fulfill this one very basic need,” Frazer said.
In 2021, California legislators passed Bill No. 367, the Menstrual Equality Act, requiring California state universities and community colleges to adequately stock menstrual products in all restrooms.
The Menstrual Equality Act does not apply to private universities such as the Claremont Colleges; however, it encourages private institutions to act in accordance with the legislation.
Sally Gaskell SC ’27, another student leading the charge for free menstrual products, said that she hopes to see Scripps take on this responsibility instead of relying on a student group to provide products.
“This isn’t just about convenience; it’s about ensuring that everyone can fully participate in campus life without barriers tied to a basic health need,” Gaskell said.
“ This isn’t just about convenience; it’s about ensuring that everyone can fully participate in campus life without barriers tied to a basic health need,” Sally Gaskell SC ’27 said.
Frazer said that Scripps Advocates initially gained funding a couple of years ago to provide menstrual products in the hopes that the school would eventually take on the initiative.
“That was supposed to be a band-aid while we tried to build some other infrastructure to get the school to do it,” Frazer said. Yet, no change occurred.
The efforts to push for broader menstrual product access are not affiliated with Scripps Advocates as a group; students such as Frazer and Gaskell are working independently across campus to ignite change.
“While we’re happy to do it in the short term, we want to create long-term infrastructures and solutions that can continue on and not, not be dependent on us, a student group that is really committed to our mission of preventing sexual assault,” Frazer said.
Miriam Akhmetshin SC ’26, co-head of Scripps Advocates and another student heading the campaign, said that almost all historically women’s colleges across the country provide this resource.
“It is incredibly disconcerting that we lag so far behind peer institutions and other 5Cs,” she said.
Akhmetshin said that within three days of the survey being sent out, 99.1 percent of students responded that they believe the college itself should provide free menstrual products, not student groups.
Deborah Gisvold, director of Tiernan Field House, and Stacey Miller, interim assistant vice president of student affairs, said in email correspondence with TSL that Scripps provides menstrual products in locations such as the Tiernan wellness room and restrooms, the Scripps Student Union, TCCS Health Education Outreach, Honnold Mudd Library and the Scripps Store.
“Scripps, especially its health and wellness practitioners or student-facing groups/departments, recognizes the overall need for feminine hygiene products and wants to ensure that people have access to this very basic need,” they wrote.
Miller and Gisvold said that at some of the locations, Scripps provides free menstrual products, while other locations contain vending machines that require payment.
“For free menstrual products, such as those located in Tiernan, we do ask that folks use them mindfully so limited resources reach those who need them due to hardship, a financial need or an immediate circumstance/emergency,” the statement read.
Akhmetshin said that this issue stretches far beyond just the Scripps community, as students from all schools utilize multiple campuses daily.
“None of the colleges are currently fully meeting student needs, though all are doing better than Scripps,” she said.
Gaskell said that the responsibility of providing menstrual products to students should be considered by administration with attention and care.
“Students should feel confident that their needs are being recognized and thoughtfully addressed,” she said.
Aashita Singh SC ’29 said she has noticed a lack of menstrual products across campus, specifically in bathrooms in the humanities building and in other classroom areas.
Considering Scripps is a historically women’s college, Singh said that they believe the administration should make menstrual products more readily available.
“If you’re going to accept a lot of people that need menstrual products, you’re going to have to make that a priority,” Singh said.
Singh said that she and many of her friends have had a shared experience of not being able to find menstrual products around campus.
“It’s definitely something that I feel a large portion of Scripps students have probably experienced once before and I just feel like that’s unacceptable,” they said.
Gaskell said that she hopes to see more administrative transparency about why attempts to transfer this responsibility to the school were declined by administration.
“I hope that after seeing the data and hearing about student need, the Scripps administration will feel responsible for advancing student well-being and take action by funding and distributing products throughout campus,” Akhmetshin said.
In creating this campaign, students hope to advocate for a new policy that ensures the distribution of free menstrual products from Scripps.
“This moment felt right to channel that energy into a collective effort for a more permanent and fair solution,” Gaskell said.
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